Microchipping and The Interview

"Okay, sit still. This is the {if Trust >=0}only{else}last{endif} thing that will hurt, I promise." One of the other soldiers takes a tube from the drawer nearby. He puts a fresh needle on it. "This is your microchip. It will allow someone who scans your shoulder to pull up data on you." The soldier cleans an area on your shoulder with a wipe, then injects you. It hurts, but no more than any other shot. The soldier closes the wound with a tiny, clear glob of something sticky.

"Alright then," the nothian speaker says, "I'm going to ask you a few things potential buyers will need to know about you." Buyer. Right, you're going to have one of those soon. {if Escape Attempts=1} "First though, a bit of advice. You may be tempted to lie to us about what you can do, but that's not in your best interest. The more useful you are, the more comfortable a station you will be able to achieve, so you hurt only yourself by underplaying your talents. On the other hand, if you exaggerate your abilities to try to get a cushier situation, you'll only fool us until your master requires the services you claimed to be able to provide. When they do, and you can't deliver, you'll regret any lies you told us. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

"Good," he says. {endif}He grabs a screenpad from the table and reads off of it.

"What's your legal name?"

"Cody White," you say.

"Prior to your capture, were you regularly taking any medications, and do you have any other medical needs potential owners might need to provide for?"

"No," you say.

He presses a spot on the screen. "What is your education level?"

"I graduated from this high school a few months ago."

He presses another spot. "Have you ever had a job?"

"I worked at a warehouse for the past few months."

"What sorts of things did you do there?"

"Some heavy lifting, mostly. I also directed some autos. I was only there for a few months."

"What other skills do you have that you think might make you useful to a potential owner? Don't lie, but feel the need to hold back. You will not be punished for mentioning a skill we deem irrelevant."

This is turning to a sick parody of a job interview. "I was on the hover-ball team when I went to school here," you say. "I also got pretty good grades I guess." He types in a few quick notes with his armored thumbs.

"When you had no other obligations, how did you spend most of your time?"

"I played hologames," you say.

He only has to press one button to record that answer. Is there an entire button just for that answer?

"Do you have any religious beliefs?"

You do. Actually, you do in a way that might sort of matter, here. "I worship the nine, like you guys."

"Do you? That's not very common on Noth. Are you sure that's not just what you think we want to hear?"

"No! It is true." It's a minority religion on Noth, even though it's the most popular one in the galaxy at large. It's the Imperial state religion, and the semi-official religion in the Murid Autonomous Zone. It's even common in the New Terran Federation, though human-invented religions are more common there. "My parents raised me in it. You can ask them. Or my siblings." If they're alive, they must be in Imperial custody, right? These people took genetic samples from you, so they should be able to figure out which people are your family. Maybe you'll learn something about what happened to them.

"I'll take your word for it, for now. Age?"

"18."

"Sexual Orientation?"

Fuck. Oh fuck, you don't like that question. "Uh, why do you need to know that?" you ask. He activates the collar. {if Trust <=0}Pain jolts through your body as though someone had kicked you in the back of the neck with all their might. {endif}"When you're asked a question, you answer, ****. Sexual orientation?"